Surfing exotic green waters off the coast of Taiwan, Karen Girouard heard a cry in the ocean that shot her into the sky.
“There’s this guy behind me. He was about to fail and needed help. I paddled over and brought him to shore. He was so thankful and happy. He said he was going to drown. He told me ‘I’m going to share my passion and sport with you.’ He told me there was a paragliding race that afternoon, so he strapped me into this thing, and I had my first tandem flight.”
In an instant, the aquatic rendezvous convinced her to explore new elements and trade in the waves for wind. Seven years later, Girouard jumps off mountains around the planet, pushes limits and has transformed into one of the top female flyers in Canada. She is the first known female to launch a speed wing from a snowboard, and she snagged a part in a Pretty Faces ski movie designed to inspire a new generation of female outdoor athletes.
Recalling those first flights, her grey eyes flash golden from under a pink knitted toque.
“It was freedom. You’re mesmerized. The view you see is from another perspective. Everything is from a new dimension,” she said. “You’re at peace, but very aware and awake. You don’t want that collapse to take you by surprise. If it does, you have to be extremely calm and deal with it the fastest, the quickest way possible. Some think it’s a grampa sport, but it’s very active piloting,” she said.
While the ocean meeting was chance, Girouard already had the wind in her veins. Her father was a pilot in Quebec and frequently took her up in his small planes, touring the countryside. She marveled at the sights, while her sister and mother couldn’t wait to get down. But she became a kayaker, which led to Taiwan and her first flight.
Girouard wouldn’t get to fly again until she was in university in Switzerland. A few friends took her out for her second tandem flight around Mont Blanc, and she realized it was a skill she could learn. As a student, she couldn’t afford the pricey set-up (new equipment costs $5,500 and up, and must be replaced every four years), but upon graduation, she travelled to South Korea to teach English as a second language. Once there, she found a paragliding school and learned how to jump solo. On her third flight, she launched without a working radio and had to land without instruction from the club.
“You’ve got to be really good at landing in Korea. The landing areas are small and surrounded by trees and barbed wire fences. But I did it.”
Waiting for her at the bottom was Mr. Gin, the owner of one of the largest paragliding manufacturing companies in the world. He shook Girouard’s hand, chastised her instructor and she ended up with a great deal on a new wing.
“They offered me a good deal on gear and I said, ‘I’m doing it. I need to take it back to Canada,’ ” Giroard said. “With paragliding, I’ve never felt so alive. It’s so calm and peaceful. So I bought the gear and went back to Canada for one more year of university.”
She eventually ended up teaching at Lawrence Grassi Middle School and slowly upgraded her flying skills along the way. Like a slow spinning wheel, she gained more confidence, entered a few competitions and improved while launching off local ski hills, flying between Golden and Invermere.
“You try to meet people you can trust. It took me a long time to meet people to instruct me the way I needed. As a teacher, I know I’m a kinesthetic learner and I needed to find the right people. I did find that. I flew for a few years, started going to competitions and competed at Canadian nationals and overseas. That’s when I learned a lot from the other pilots,” she said.
By 2012, she took a leave of absence from her job to fly around Europe, soaring over the Dolomites in Italy, castles in Germany and into the Coupe Icare festival in France. She immersed herself in the flying culture, which is much larger overseas.
“I felt like a little eagle princess, soaring over castles,” Girouard said.
Advancing through the sport, she purchased a speed wing in Revelstoke which increased her adrenalin rush, as she could now launch from a set of skis or a full run. At first, she hated it, comparing it to a souped-up motorcycle – too fast. But eventually she tamed the wing.
“It can take me 20 minutes to land from the top of Mount Lady Macdonald in Canmore with my paraglider. With my speed wing, it takes me four minutes,” Girouard said. “As my friend Katie Uhlaender would say, ‘it’s controlled chaos.’ You’re really in tune with what’s happening. You have to be mentally focused. On a speed wing, you’re attached right at the harness. Every little move: stomach, hips. arms, changes your direction.”
She did some research and discovered no woman had ever launched a speed wing from a snowboard. She knew she could accomplish the feat.
“That day was a good day. We were doing short laps, with tele skis (at Mount Revelstoke). I had one more flight left, and said ‘I think I’m ready, get my snowboard.’ I had a crowd of people watching. They knew this was the first time on snowboard on speedwing. Two guys in Europe have done it, but I haven’t heard of any women who have done it.”
She launched smoothly into the speed wing history books.
“It was magical. Fantastic. I felt in control. I could call it out. I could abort. That night, I fell asleep with a big grin on my face.”
Through her journey, she realized she had to inspire more women to enter the sport in Canada. Often, she’d be the lone female flyer in the air.
“You meet some incredible people. There are some friends I’ve met through the sport I know I’ll be friends with for the rest of my life. They are my family. But it can be tricky… It’s a very man-dominated sport. Sometimes as a girl, it’s different. You stand out quite a bit. You have to be careful,” Girouard said.
A chance meeting in Alaska with the owner of Glacier City Media, Shannon Erickson, this winter will result in Girouard inspiring more female speed flyers. The two met and instantly connected, and Erickson invited Girouard to appear in her film with adventure ski star Lynsey Dyer entitled Pretty Faces: The Story of A Skier Girl.
“She fell in love with my dog and we hit it off,” Erickson said. “The timing was perfect. I’m always on the hunt for female athletes and I wanted to interview her, connect with her and get some good GoPro footage,” Erickson said. “She’s an instant friend for life and very dear to my heart. She’s also willing to do anything it took to get a shot.”
The serendipitous meeting resulted in the meeting with Dyer, who managed to open up the local ski hill for Giroard’s speed flying, partnering her with two tandem flyers and several photographers. Weather didn’t co-operate, so instead Girouard was sent to go heli-speed riding in Valdez, Alaska, dropped off in remote locations and soared through incredible mountainous terrain.
“It was the greatest experience. A dream. It was perfect conditions, perfect everything. I launched on my split board, going close to features, landing by a lake and waiting for the helicopter to pick me up again. It was better than your wedding day.”
The incredible footage was sent to Erickson, who is still editing the film, which is tentatively due out in September, and it has inspired Girouard to use her talents to inspire more women. She inspired her school when she flew from the top of Mount Lady Macdonald to the school in one of the most memorable commutes in Canmore history.
Breaking down barriers, inspiring more female athletes, Girouard said she is just scratching the surface on what has already been an incredible adventure, taking her from sea to sky, and everywhere in between.
